


as it springs from the ground

by thesecondsmile



Series: a tiny prayer to father time [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Boys In Love, Chronic Illness, Established Relationship, Happy Ending, M/M, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:01:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29167707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesecondsmile/pseuds/thesecondsmile
Summary: Bucky watches Steve heal, and delights.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: a tiny prayer to father time [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2117595
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	as it springs from the ground

**Author's Note:**

> Fic title taken from 'The Sun Will Rise' by The Brilliance.

He misses Steve.

It’s only been a day since he last saw him, was able to hold those elegant artist’s fingers in his calloused palms and gaze into those dear blue eyes. Yet, it somehow already feels like the acres of dirt between them have carved an aching hole in his chest.

After all, it’s been less than a year since he thought that it would be a different kind of dirt separating them. The kind of dirt that fills a hole in the ground but opens up a bigger one in the hearts of those above ground. The kind that spells a type of distance that cannot be crossed by any amount of travelling, unmoved by the pleading of those that would walk a thousand miles if it meant that they could meet their loves again. The kind that serves not as a foundation for a home, but as the resting site for tears of sorrow that have nowhere else to be. 

It’s been less than a year since Bucky stood outside a hatefully familiar operating room, sick to his stomach with worry over a man whose body he would always know better than his own, but still not well enough to find some way to fix him, to make it more than just a temporary vessel nowhere near sturdy enough to house the precious soul that had long come to be part of his own. 

Fortunately, for however remarkable and special Steve was, he still was human enough to be composed of the same flesh and bones as everyone else, that a brilliant, brilliant man who did know enough about the human body had fixed him. He still wasn’t too sure about the exact mechanics of the cure, just that it was a one in a million chance that Steve’s body would accept the treatment. But Steve had always been one in a million, and soon enough, he was carted into surgery to build him a body that matched his soul. 

At times, Bucky still couldn’t believe that such a gift was granted to them, but he had long learnt, since the moment he met Steve, that when a miracle is sent to you, you don’t ask why it was sent.

And so, he found himself pacing nervously in the corridor dreaded by all those who have had a loved one with a body rebelling against them. Except this time, unlike the dozens of worried marches before, it wasn’t a desperate fight for a bit more borrowed time, but for a chance at a _life_ for both of them, the more that he had craved since he was a child.

It could all be part of a daze he entered where Steve died on a table years ago and Bucky’s mind left with Steve’s soul to find a place where they could be together forever, but if that is what it takes for Bucky to stay with Steve, so be it. The procedure worked perfectly, and a day later, he entered that room to see his Stevie, still looking weak and frail from the toll the surgery took on his body, but with eyes that somehow shone even brighter. As if the serum that they injected him with was a syringe full of pure _life._

After seeing Steve take what could have been his final swan dive, Bucky had asked for no promises other than to be able to go home with him at least one more time. They managed to do that, but even more, he saw Steve start to _grow_ , his lungs seemingly strengthening with every breath, his body adjusting to accommodate the vibrance that it had long tried to stifle. It was as if almost overnight, whatever curse that had condemned Steve to a life of sickness and infirmity had been lifted, and the fierce spirit that lay fighting beneath was able to rise up and let itself be known.

Bucky watched Steve be healthy, and it was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.

He could see that Steve was worried about the new bulk of his frame, that he would no longer fit as perfectly into Bucky’s arms, but Bucky knew that there was no world in which Steve was too big for him to cuddle and hold dear. At times, he was worried that with Steve’s newfound ideal masculinity, the tyranny of no choice that had saddled Steve with Bucky would be lifted, and Steve would be free to find somebody who would see him for who he was, and Bucky would be cast off to the side as a fond childhood memory. When he had admitted these fears to him in hushed whispers late at night, it had only taken a few fierce responses to reassure him that the man he fell in love with was still as stubbornly dedicated as ever. 

Even with the great upheaval in their lives, they were still madly, dizzyingly in love.

  
  


*****

  
  


It had been when Steve came home from a run.

Panting profusely, shirt drenched and stuck to his back with stretch, stinking to the high heavens. But there had been such joy in his eyes, in the rosy blush of his cheeks and the proud stretch of the broad chest housing his new lungs. 

Steve had always been beautiful, but this was the first time Bucky had truly felt brave enough to envision the rest of their _long_ lives together. Almost as breathless as Steve, his head spinning with the single-minded chant of _nownownow_ , he had sprinted to his room, leaving a bewildered Steve standing in the doorway. By the time he stumbled back, Steve had followed him into their bedroom, concern in his eyes.

Nearly crashing into him, Bucky had all but fallen to the floor on one knee, babbling declarations of love that had been years in the making, with a proposition of hope that he had only just dared to voice.

Of course, Steve had burst into tears, his new and improved lung capacity making for quite a dramatic and tearful acceptance culminating in a bone-crushing embrace. It was messy and unrefined and all of the things most couples would rue in a proposal, but it was the most raw reflection of Bucky and Steve, and at the end of a cherished day, they were engaged.

  
  


***** 

  
  


“Hey!”

“What, worried that I look better in my tux than you do?” Steve’s eyes are twinkling with playfulness and Bucky wishes that he was able to capture this sight for all eternity.

“Yeah right,” he snipes back. “You only wish you looked as good as this. But I guess I _could_ still be persuaded to marry you, punk.”

It is only in jest; after all, Steve has always been beautiful, and as long as he is able to pledge to spend the rest of his life with the man he loves beyond words, he wouldn’t mind if they both walked down the aisle in matching burlap sacks. But now, dressed in his smart, deep blue suit, eyes bright and cheeks pink with joy, Steve looks positively _radiant._

Not for the first time, he thanks whatever force, whatever _good_ in the world that allowed him the privilege of being with Steve.

It had been quite the struggle (not that he would ever admit it to Steve; the smug punk would be insufferable) to be separated from Steve for a day, but he had cajoled and wheedled for them to follow this tradition (“It’ll be so much more romantic Buck!”) and Bucky had spent so long praying for the chance to be married to Steve that he would agree to anything if it made him happy. 

Sitting alone in their shared apartment had been near tortuous, but it had all been worth it when he first saw Steve’s familiar blond head peek out shyly from the doors leading to the church. It was a charming little room where they would sneakily escape to after skipping out on Sunday mass and get up to all kinds of trouble (mostly instigated by Steve). Now, it would be the room where they would have their First Look, and their last look as fiancés.

The stained glass windows would reflect the kaleidoscope of memories soon to come, and the precious people lining both sides of the aisle would be the witnesses to the start of the next leg of their journey. The priest at the end would be the one to officially mark the start of their marriage, but looking at each other in that moment, they knew that they had been one soul since they first stumbled upon each other nearly two decades ago: two scruffy boys with bruised and busted knees, meeting in a back alley in Brooklyn. 

**Author's Note:**

> and here we have it, the last instalment of this little series! A little heavy at points, but still a happy ending to a whirlwind of emotions :')
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it, and let me know with a kudos or comment :D


End file.
